Scorched Grounds

“This is the last time I’m letting that prick tell me what to do,” someone mumbles to themselves as I force my eyes open. “Oh, thank Neeve you’re awake, brother. That thing got you pretty good, didn’t it?”

That…thing? What thing?

And why is this person blue?

“I’m sorry, what’s— ”

“Oh, no, don’t worry,” the humanoid alien says, pushing me back onto the bed. “There’s no point in exerting yourself too much. Not after what happened.”

“What did happen?”

“Oh, Gods, don’t tell me you don’t remember.” The alien flaps his strange hands around in fear. “He doesn’t remember! Meere, he doesn’t remember!”

“He doesn’t remember!” Meere repeats. “How can he not remember, Jolgren?”

“I don’t know,” Jolgren says. “I mean, it hit him right in the face, didn’t it?”

“I suppose so,” Meere says, sweat dripping off their forehead. “No problem then; we’ll just…put him right back under.”

“Right, yes,” Jolgren says. “Right back under. That’ll improve his odds.”

“My odds of what?” I say.

“Your odds of not being banished,” Meere says. “Do you really not remember?”

I shake my head.

“Well,” Meere continues, “you’re in a heap of trouble either way. At least if you’ve got your memories, you can explain everything to the Commander, and then maybe he’ll spare you instead of exiling you to…Earth.” A wave of disgust washes over their face at the thought of that place.

Then, Jolgren moves a mirror attached to a nearby wall and tells me to look into it, hoping I’ll regain my memories. But the longer I stare, the more I start questioning things. Why am I blue as well?

“Aaaaargh!” I scream, as I notice my octopus-like hand. “What the hell is this? What kind of drugs am I under?”

“Koisto, calm down,” Jolgren says, but I continue flapping my arms around. “Koisto, I’m warning you: do not cause a scene in here, too.”

“Who the hell is Koisto?” I exclaim.

“Oh, no, it’s worse than I thought,” Jolgren says. “Meere, we’re not taking any more chances. Anesthetic. Now.”

I keep trying to escape, but I’m bound to something. Or someone. Are the latches on my torso…staring at me?

“Don’t worry, Koisto, it’ll all be okay,” Jolgren says. “Meere isn’t going to do anything dangerous. She’ll just help you…recuperate.”

Recuperate…

Everything slowly turns to black as my head flops to the side. And just beyond the nearby window, I spot something I never thought I’d see from above.

The blue marble itself—now mostly red. Earth.

***

When I wake, I realize I am no longer bound to anything, but my vision still needs a few moments to adjust.

“How are you feeling now, Koisto?” Jolgren asks. “You seem a lot calmer.”

“I guess,” I say. “But I still don’t understand what’s going on.”

“So it still didn’t work, huh?” he asks.

“Not that I can see.” My eyes dart around the place, trying to take it all in. “I don’t feel like myself.”

“After what you’ve done, that probably makes sense,” Meere says, her eyes blinking one at a time.

“Can anyone tell me what I’ve actually done instead of being so cryptic?” I say, irritated. “And also, please let me know why my skin looks like this.” I hold up my hand…or tentacle. It’s somewhere in between. Longer, but still has fingers.

“Damn, so it really didn’t work,” Jolgren says, and I offer him an expectant look. “Fine, fine. Here”—he hands me some seemingly normal-looking clothes—“get yourself dressed and meet us at the cafeteria. Some food ought to clear up your mind.”

I put on the pair of black jeans and the red t-shirt that has Number 1 Star Collector written on it in bright, bold letters, then wash my face a bit, before following the signs to the cafeteria. It’s quite empty around here, but just in the corner, I spot the two strangers that woke me up.

“Great,” Jolgren says as I sit down.

“So, where’s the food?” I ask. “I don’t see anyone serving any. Or, well, anyone at all, for that matter.”

“Snap your fingers,” Meere says.

“What—”

“Just snap them.” She is not amused.

“Did something happen to—”

“Just snap them!” Jolgren and Meere say in unison.

Fine, fine.

So, I snap my fingers. Once. Twice. Thrice. “Is something supposed to happen?”

“Oh, no, this as well,” Jolgren says, slightly exasperated.

“Fine”—Meere snaps her fingers, and food appears out of thin air—“you can have ours. It’s not like we were starving, anyway.”

On the tray, I see just about everything other than what I thought I’d consider food. “Is that an…eyeball?”

“What do you mean, Koisto? Skorlax’s were always your favorite,” Jolgren says.

“Alright, can you stop calling me Koisto?” I raise my voice. “What the hell is going on here?”

“Then what is your name?” Meere says.

“It’s…. That’s…” That’s a good question. “But still, you haven’t told me what happened here.”

Jolgren’s eyes move left and right until he’s sure he can speak. “You went into the forbidden area,” he whispers.

“The forbidden area?” I joke.

“Shhh, not that loud,” Jolgren says. “Rumor is, something attacked you on the ship.”

“So, it hit me so hard that I suddenly lost all my memories?”

“Precisely,” Meere says.

I roll my eyes. “Great. And how do I get them back?”

“Well, you don’t,” Jolgren says.

“What do you mean I don’t? Isn’t that what you two were trying to do?” I point to both of them as my body rejects the Sporlax or Storlax or whatever it was called.

“Oh, so you really don’t like Skorlax’s anymore,” Jolgren says.

“Focus.” I hit the table with my fist.

“Right, right, sorry.” He reaches for a letter in the pocket of his coat. “Here, this should explain your fate.”

So, I open the letter, and the only thing that greets me is alien characters and strange symbols. “Am I supposed to be able to read this?”

“Oh, Gods, he’s illiterate now, too,” Jolgren says. “What in the hell did you actually find down there?”

“Because I’m supposed to know?” I retort.

“Fair enough.” Jolgren grabs the letter from my…hand. “So, basically, you’re facing exile, as we mentioned before. Then, bla bla bla, torture and punishment, skipping over some stuff, and…there! Yes, here.” He points toward some more undecipherable text, and I furrow my brows—assuming I’ve got some, like the two of them. I didn’t really take that much time to look in that mirror. “Oh, right, can’t read. So, the Commander requested an audience with you this evening for your crimes, and he’ll put you through some test to decide if you’re worthy.”

“Worthy of what?” I ask, trying to dig into some of the other stuff on my plate. “And what do you mean by test?”

The rest of the food is just as disgusting.

“Worthy of staying on the ship,” Meere says, blowing a raspberry, as if I should’ve known everything already. “But you needn’t worry too much about that test—especially since you’re such a coveted Star Collector. It’s more of a lie detector anyway, so if you don’t know anything, you’ll pass with flying colors.” She offers a somewhat reassuring smile.

“Anything I should know until—”

A couple of banging sounds emerge from the ceiling, forcing all three of us to cover our ears.

“What was that?” I ask, as my ears still ring.

“Must be the rats again,” Meere says. “When they scurry about in the vents, their”—she squeaks like a mouse—“makes everyone drop to their knees.”

“Everyone?” I ask. But to me, it sounded more like something large was moving up there.

“Man, we really need to catch you up to speed on everything,” Jolgren says.

***

Jolgren and Meere show me to my sleeping chamber and let me prepare for the audience with the Commander. But the more I look around this room, the less I understand. Number 1 Start Collector? Avernam’s Finest Selection? Pengro & Silversum’s Friends? What do any of these shirts mean?

As I stare at the window within the room, yearning for whatever exile I’m supposed to get, pictures start flashing on the small screen next to me.

“And now, here comes the forecast for the Mother Ship,” the humanoid alien on TV says. They’re dressed like a news anchor, although the colors are a lot more flamboyant than I’d expect. “The training wards are now free of any mischief from juveniles. The Commander’s quarters shall not be open this evening, unless there are urgent matters that His Excellency needs to attend to. And finally, the medical bay will still be occupied after the incident in the—”

Well, that was definitely not about the weather. But I mean, what weather could there even be up here?

The broadcast comes back online. “And now to our quick preview of Earth. We’ve got boiling hot, scorching, and oh-Gods-just-rip-my-skin-off-me-already kinds of weather.” The shot changes, almost as if the camera fell to the floor, but the lens didn’t crack. “Fine, you happy now? I swear if I’m ever taking orders from you again—”

“Hey,” Jolgren says, dragging out the word as he enters my room, “buddy…how are you? Feeling ready to tackle on the world?”

“That world?” I ask, pointing with my thumb at the scorched Earth.

“Yeah…” He rubs his neck. “Ah, you’ll be fine. There’s no way in Gulver that the Commander would extradite you like that?”

“Extradite?” I remark.

“I mean…” Jolgren’s expression suddenly grows anxious. “I don’t even know what that word means. Exile is what I wanted to say. Right.”

“Jolgren, you’re my friend,” I lie, thinking this is what I’ve gathered about this Koisto so far, “if there’s something you need to tell me, just let me know.”

Jolgren pulls on the neckline of his shirt as beads of sweat trickle down his forehead.

I tell him to sit down.

“The Commander thinks you’re…” He can’t finish his words.

“I’m what, Jolgren?”

The alien gets up and grabs a piece of paper, where he scribbles something down.

“Here.” He hands me the notes.

“I…still can’t read.”

Jolgren takes a moment to think about what he wants to say—if he wants to say it at all. But even though that blue head looks alien to me, the doubt on his face is as clear as day.

“Damn, man,” Jolgren says, covering his eyes with the palms of his hands. “I swear if I end up on a pod going straight to Earth with you….”

“That’ll never happen,” I promise. “You can trust me.”

Jolgren takes one last moment to think. “Fine.” His eyes look around one more time. “There’s a clandestine passenger on board from our last visit down there,” he whispers. “The Commander thinks you two swapped bodies during the incident.”

***

The clocks strike nineteen when someone calls for me. It’s finally time to face that commander—and that Koisto I swapped bodies with.

As I exit the room, I follow an acolyte through a long hallway illuminated by glowing orbs. At its end, the hooded figure glues themselves to the wall, and disappears in the blink of an eye. All I’m left with is an intimidating gate, whose gargantuan size makes me wonder just how large this ship truly is.

A screeching sound suddenly makes me fall to my knees, and when I open my eyes, the pain seemingly going away, I notice that the entryway is now free. At its end, the Commander lies on his throne, awaiting me in eerie anticipation. “Come forward, Koisto,” he says.

“Sir, I—”

“Pardon?”

Did I say something wrong?

“He meant to say, Your Excellency,” Jolgren announces from the stands. Wait, why are there stands? And where did all these people come from?

“Yes, Your Excellency,” I say.

“Thank you, Koisto,” the Commander says. “Well, that is, if you are the real Koisto.”

The Commander pulls on a rope, and a falling curtain unveils a boy no older than fourteen—blonde hair, blue eyes—jeering at me as if he wanted me to meet my maker. But there’s something I recognize about that figure—something that’s a bit too familiar.

“How did you ever connect with me?” the boy shouts. “Give me back my real body!”

“How?” I shout back as the boy approaches.

Then, he lunges at me, trying so desperately to…connect. The feeling is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before—almost as if a strange energy courses through my body. Or Koisto’s. I have no idea what’s going on, but within a matter of minutes, I perceive the world through a different set of eyes. My own.

When I look down at my body, I finally recognize that same pale skin I’ve always been used to. And those hands—I never thought I would’ve missed them so—

The blue alien grabs me and launches me into the air.

“Now the real test begins,” the Commander announces. “The loser—or what’ll be left of him—will be sent down there to hell. The winner will…well, we already know who’s going to win. Have fun, Koisto.”

“Weapon of choice?” the alien whose body I was in just a few seconds ago asks, brandishing his new blade.

“I-I don’t—”

“Too late,” he says, throwing me a slingshot and a bag of pebbles. “Guess you’ll have to make do.”

I crouch as the alien lunges at me, and I pick up the measly weapon he offered. As the crowd cheers for more action, I run as far away as possible from the attacker and scan the arena for a place I can hide. In front of me, the curtain from where the Commander unveiled…me, has nothing more to offer. The rest of the walls are surrounded by the stands, but when I turn around, I notice an escape pod just a few meters away. That will surely bring me back to Earth.

“Watch out, kid!” I hear Meere shout from the stands, and I dodge Koisto’s attack just in time.

“Whose side are you on?” Koisto shouts toward his friends.

But as I try to use this opportunity to run toward the pod, I notice the end of Koisto’s blade still cut through some of my skin.

“Oh, no, you’ve caused enough trouble already,” the attacker says, extending his arm without moving, then grabbing me and throwing me to the other side of the arena.

As I regain my vision, I notice the vents above me, and remember the squeaking rats. But since I’m back in my regular body, I shouldn’t be subject to the ringing noise anymore. So, I grab the slingshot and pebbles off the ground, and as Koisto parades around, thinking he’s already won, I ready my aim and let go.

The sound reverberates through the air, giving the perfect opportunity to make a run for it. As everyone falls to their knees except me, I strike true one more time. And then again. And again. And when I reach the pod, I press every button in sight, but none close the door.

“The fight is not over!” Koisto shouts, his arm extending toward me.

Luckily, I press the right button just as his arm grabs my body, cutting it off clean. And as the escape pod detaches from the ship and floats me toward nothingness, I rub my eyes and blink a couple of times to process what just happened. The hand turns from blue to pale, just like mine, and in the distance, I notice everyone in the arena disappear.

***

I think they really must’ve put me on some kind of drugs, as I wake up after crashlanding back on Earth. When I open my eyes, not knowing what day, or month, or even what year it is, the door to my pod opens, and I hear a voice mutter something to me—a voice I almost recognize.

“We are never sending a kid on a suicide mission, again. Or infiltrating an alien spaceship, for that matter. No matter how much we needed those memories, this is the last time I’m letting that prick tell me what to do.”